With two of its judges, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, leaving the "Idol" panel, Fox has announced their new recruit for the show. They have filled in one "Idol" seat by taking in Mariah Carey.

It was confirmed yesterday that one of the industry's biggest diva, Mariah Carey, will join in the "American Idol" judging panel for its Season 12. She will be joined by AI's longtime judge randy Jackson.

For several weeks, it has been rumored that the diva is on the running for the job which helped JLo get back in track with her career. According to Entertainment Weekly, her salary would be between $12M-$17M. Jennifer was paid $12M during her first season and $15 for her last year.

Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment president said in a statement that the network is thrilled to welcome Mariah aboard.

"It's the biggest recording artist than any of these [singing competition] shows have ever had,' he said during a press conference in Beverly Hills," he said. "It's an artist many of these contestants have tried to emulate. [The deal] only concluded only hours ago. Not being the only game in town we need to keep things fresh."

Mariah expressed her excitement via her Twitter account saying, "It's gonna be so much fun working on @AmericanIdol. As a singer-songwriter, I'm excited to help find and nurture new talent. LYM! -MC"

"I am so excited to be joining 'Idol'. First of all, I wanted to be there today and I wish I could've been there to tell you, but I think you know this all kind of just happened real quickly, so I can't wait to get started in a couple months," Mariah said yesterday on the press conference.

Former "Idol" judge Jennifer Lopez expressed her support for the new judge by saying, "She's a musician for a long time she has a lot of experience. And it's that experience you offer them at the end of the day, the contestants just want to get better and grow through the process."

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